SKATE HEEL BINDING

Abstract: The present invention relates to a heel binding (10) for a skate (12) and comprises a heel lock mechanism with a vertically pivotable locking member (20), arranged, in an actuated position, to be in contact with an edge portion of the top of the heel (34) of a skater's boot, and in a non-actuated position to be pivoted backwards away from the heel. The locking mechanism (20) is bifurcated and has a lower linkage arm (26) actuated by the heel and an upper locking arm (24) fixing the heel. An operating arm (36) is vertically pivotable adjacent the locking member (20) and supports a cam roller (38), which is resiliently biassed against a cam profile (44) on the rear edge of the locking arm, by means of a spring (42).

Description: Sπate Heel Binding The present invention relates to a heel binding for a skate comprising a lateral support for the heel of a skater's boot and a heel lock mechanism fδr vertically fixing the heel on the skate, said heel lock mechanism comprising a bracket mounted on the rear portion of the skate, in which a locking member is vertically pivotable and is adapted, in an actuated position, to be in contact with an edge portion on the top of the heel, and in an unactuated position, to be pivoted backwards away from the heel, said locking member being a bifurcated locking member which has a lower arm actuatable by the heel of the skater's boot and an upper heel fixing arm provided with a jaw, a pivoted operating arm 36 being disposed to be resiliently pressed against a cam profile on the rear edge of the locking member by a spring means. Previously known heel bindings for bootless skates have required manual manipulation to lock and unlock the heel binding, and said manipulation is time-consuming and difficult for many skaters. Heel bindings for skis have been previously suggested (cf for example US-A-3 325 178) , which make possible automatic locking of the heel portion of a ski boot and a simplified release and opening of the binding. However, such ski bindings are not suited for use on skates, since they are relatively long in the longitudinal direction, thus making it impossible to bind the boot heel near the rear end of the skate. One purpose of the present invention has been to achieve a new, improved heel binding for skates, which makes it possible to lock automatically the heel portion of the skater's boot to the skate, and to make possible a simplified onlocking or opening of the heel binding. At the same time the heel binding should have a very compact design, i.e. it should extend a very small distance in the longitudinal direction of the skate, so that the binding can be mounted at the very rear end of the skate . In order to solve this problem, a binding of the type described by way of introduction is characterized according to the invention in that the operating arm is pressed against the cam profile via a cam roller, said spring means consisting of a tensile spring which is fixed to the locking member and is disposed to be tensioned by the cam roller when the operating arm is moved backwards, away from the locking member to pivot said locking member away from its heel releasing position. Such a design makes it possible to mount an automatically locking and easily opened binding with compact external dimensions at the rear end of the skate. Additional details and features of the binding according to the invention are disclosed in the subclaims and will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig 1 is a sideview of a heel binding according to the invention in its opened position; Fig 2 shows the binding in its boot heel locking position; and Fig 3 is a view from above of the binding according to the invention. The heel binding, generally designated 10, according to the present invention, comprises a bracket 14 mounted on the top of the rear end of the bootless skate 12. The bracket has a bottom plate 16 and two parallel, spaced lateral supports 18, which extend vertically upwards. The lateral supports 18 provide a mount for a bifurcated locking member 20, which is journalled in the supports 18 by means of a pin 22. The locking member 20 consists of an upper locking arm 24 and a lower linkage arm 26. The upper locking arm 24 has at its front a jaw 28, which is vertically adjustable along a grooved portion of the front of the locking arm 24 and can be fixed in place by means of a screw 30. The lower linkage arm 26 has a forwardly directed end portion 32 designed, during locking of the binding 10 to be pressed down by the rear portion of the heel 34 of the skater's boot. When the binding is opened, it is designed to lift the heel 34 upwards. The two arms of the locking member 20, i.e. the linkage arm 26 and the locking arm 24, can be limitedly pivotable relative to each other about the pin 22 in order to provide, when the binding 10 is being locked, a certain delay in the closing of the locking arm 24 against the heel 34 relative to the pivot movement of the linkage arm 26, and a preceding pushing back of the locking arm 24 when the binding is being opened. An operating arm 36 is pivotably mounted on the bracket 14 via a pivot pin 37, which is mounted in the lower portion of the supports 18 and close to the pin 22 in the longitudinal direction of the skate. In the embodiment shown, the operating arm 36 has a U-profile cross section, so that it can receive and enclose the major portion of the locking member 20 between the lateral sides of the U-profile when the binding is in its locked position. The operating arm 36 supports at its center portion a cam roller 38, which extends between the lateral sides of the U- profile and is rotatably mounted therein. A tensile spring 42 fixed in the upper portion of the locking arm 24 at 40 extends behind the cam roller 38 and is fixed at its other end to the pivot pin 37 of the operating arm 36. The tensile spring 42 thus exerts a resilient force on the cam roller 38 so that it will be held in contact with a cam surface 44 on the rear edge of the locking arm 24. The cam surface 44 has two depressions 46 and 48, serving as end positions for the cam roller 38. In the opened position of the binding 10 shown in Fig 1, the cam roller 38 rests in the upper end position 48, while, in the closed position of the binding as shown in Fig 2, the cam roller 38 has passed a cam stop 50 and has jumped into the lower end position 46. Fig 2 shows a safety catch (not shown in Figs 1 and 3) , which has the shape of a pawl 52, which is spring-biassed towards its locking position shown in Fig 2, where it engages over the upper edge of the locking arm 24 and prevents the operating arm 36 from being pivoted backwards and thus unintentionally opening the binding 10, unless the rear end 54 of the pawl 52 is pushed down to release the operating arm 36. The upper end of the operating arm 36 has a depression 56, in which the point of a skater's icepike can be placed to push down the operating arm 36. The binding 10 also has a lateral support 58 for the heel 34, which in the embodiment shown consists of two arms 60 and 62 (Fig 3) , the inner ends of which are fixed together with the bracket 14 to the skate 12. The obliquely forwardly-outwardly directed distal end of each arm has an upwardly directed support 64 with a slightly flared upper portion to facilitate insertion of the heel 34 between the supports 64. The position of the arms 60,62 in the horisontal plane is adjustable to adapt the lateral support means 58 to different heel sizes. The lateral support means 58 for the heel 34 can conceivably be made, in another embodiment (not shown) integral with the bracket or another portion of the binding 10. The binding 10 functions in the following manner: The toe of the boot is first inserted into a front toe support of known design (not shown in the drawing) . The heel 34 is then pushed down between the lateral supports 64 of the lateral support means 58. The heel thereby presses the linkage arm 26 downwards over its end portion 32, thus pivoting the upper locking arm 34 forwards, i.e. counter clockwise in Fig 1, about the pin 22. At the same time the cam roller 38 leaves its upper end position 48 passing over the cam crest 50, whereupon the cam roller 38, biassed by the spring 42 jumps into the lower end position depression 46, thus pressing the jaw 28 down against the upper edge of the heel 34. If the operating arm 36 has a pawl 52, as shown in Fig 2, the point of the pawl 52 will snap into the position engaging the frontside of the locking arm 24, thus preventing the operating arm 36 from pivoting clockwise. In order to open the binding 10, the operating arm 36 is pressed backwards, either by hand or with an icepike in the depression 56, preceded by release of the pawl 56, if present. When the cam roller 38 has passed the cam crest 50, the locking arm 24 is pivoted outwards until the cam roller 38 reaches its upper end position 48, as shown in Fig 1, whereupon the linkage arm 26, which is slightly pivotable relative to the locking arm 24, permits the locking arm 24 with the jaw 28 to be opened somewhat before the linkage arm 26 presses the heel 34 up and out of the binding.

Claims: Claims 1. Heel binding (10) for a skate (12) , comprising a lateral support (58) for the heel (34) of a skater's boot and a heel lock mechanism for vertically fixing the heel (34) on the skate (12) , said heel lock mechanism comprising a bracket (14) mounted on the rear portion of the skate (12) , in which a locking member is vertically pivotable and is adapted in an actuated position to be in contact with an edge portion of the top of the heel and in an unactuated position to be pivoted backwards away from the heel, said locking member (20) being a bifurcated locking member which has a lower arm (26) actuatable by the heel (34) of the skater's boot and an upper heel fixing arm (24) provided with a jaw (28), a pivoted operating arm (36) being disposed to be resiliently pressed against a cam profile (44) on the rear edge of the locking member (20) by a spring means (42) , characterized in that the operating arm (36) is pressed against a cam profile (44) via a cam roller (38) , said spring means (42) consisting of a tensile spring (42) and being fixed to the locking member (20) and disposed to be tensioned by the cam roller (38) when the operating arm (36) is moved backwards, away from the locking member (20) to pivot said locking member away from its heel releasing position. 2. Heel binding according to Claim 1, characterized in that the operating arm (36) is disposed to overlap or enclose a substantial portion of the locking member (20) in its actuated position. 3. Heel binding according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cam profile (44) has two depressions (46,48) serving as end positions for the cam roller (38) and separated from each other via a cam crest (50) . 4. Heel binding according to one of Claims 1-3, characterized in that the lower and upper arms of the locking member (20) have the shape of a linkage arm (26) and a locking arm (24) , respectively, which are limitedly pivotable relative to each other via a common pivot pin (22) . 5. Heel binding according to one of Claims 1-4, characterized in that the locking member (20) and the operating arm (36) are pivotally mounted in the same bracket (14) on pivot pins (22 and 37, respectively) lying in the same vertical plane or in closely adjacent vertical planes. 6. Heel binding according to one of Claims 1-5, characterized in that the bracket (14) has the shape of a bottom plate (16) with two postlike lateral supports (18) extending upwards from a bottom plate (16) , said supports receiving between them portions of the locking member (20) and the operating arm (36) . 7. Heel binding according to one of Claims 1-6, characterized in that the heel lateral support means (58) is in the form of two arms (60,62), each having a distal end with an upright support (64) for contact with the side of the skater's boot heel (34) and a proximal end which is adjustably fixed in the rear portion of the skate (12) , preferably together with the bracket (14) .

Inventors: JOHANSSON BENGT, JOHANSSON, BENGT
Applicants: HARALD ALMGREN AB, JOHANSSON BENGT, JOHANSSON, BENGT
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A63C1
IPC codes: A63C1, A63C9